Ｍａｎａｇｉｎｇ Ｂｅｈａｖｉｏｕｒ ｉｎ Ｃｌａｓｓｒｏｏｍｓ

Abstract：Managing the class is a fussy but indispensable job for the class teacher. The relationship between teachers and students is a subtle one， which is different with each group. So it is a duty to manage their behaviour， meanwhile the teachers'skills of management appears more important.

Key words：management students behaviour secondary schools

“Good behaviour and discipline in schools are essential to successful teaching and learning.”( DEF， 1994a， p.1) Misbehaviour tends to be the barrier for pupils learning effectively because prevention is better than cure.It is easier to prevent misbehaviour than it is to deal with it after it happens. However， less misbehaviour and more effective teaching and learning are probably depend on the effective class management. Ⅰ.What is misbehaviour and analysis of the causes“Misbehaviour is usually defined as behaviour which causes concern to teachers.” (Elton Report， DES/WO， 1989)There are many categories of misbehaviour in the secondary school， ranging from minor irritation or disruption to major confrontations or disruption in the class or school. But many teachers are suffered from the petty misbehaviour， which makes their job more stressful. According to the survey (Wheldall and Merrett，1989)， the most frequent troublesome behaviour employed is talking out of turn， account for approximately 50 percent，compared with other nine troublesome， such as verbal abuse， making unnecessary noise， idleness/slowness， unpunctuality， hindering other children， physical aggression， untidiness and out of seat. And it is followed by HOC， which is approximately 18%， physical aggression cam tenth (last) in the rank of order.They also pointed out that boys were clearly more troublesome than girls in the first two years of secondary school education.The causes of why students misbehave in the classroom are complex. Davison considers (Capel， Leask and Turner， 2001) the three most common reasons are: boredom; an inability to do the academic work and effort demanded for too long a period without a break.It is obvious that these factors can be avoided by planning the lesson carefully and managing the class comprehensively. Nevertheless， some students also misbehaviour as the result of their own internal problems due to their home background (e.g. drink， drugs， finical hardship etc.) or some specific environment. For example， violence， some psychological problems， extraverts and so on.In China， as the education system is switching exam-oriented education to quality education， it will undoubtedly be an impact on people's learning. The purpose of the students' learning seems that only for passing the examination and pursuit of high score. Students lack enthusiasm， initiative， and creativity. On the other hand， in order to help the students pass the examination， some teachers always teach content of textbook throughout class without any omission， because what I lectured might be involved in examination according to the syllabus. As a result， learning becomes a teacher-centered procedure in which the interaction between students and teachers therefore rarely occurs. This situation may lead to too much stress taking dislike to study. Children have to finish much homework after school， though they have learned much in class and get very tired both physically and mentally. The school life seems to be very boring. Once they detest study， it is difficult for them to concentrate their attention on working. It causes a series of problems such as cheating which is also a remarkable misbehaviour in my class is the concomitants of poor academic knowledge. They sometimes copy other students' on account of the fact that they have low self-esteem and poor attitudes to work.Another is “pupil vulnerability”， this term attributed to children who have difficulties with school work， these certain children have pressure from other pupils and being vulnerable by peers， at the same time， they have their own emotional turmoil. Another argumentative factor which can produces misbehaviour is reflected by questionnaire in my school. It is “fairness of teacher's actions”; some students believed that teacher's unfairness may be as a cause of misbehaviour.I have an argument about this issue; it is undeniable that inequity happens to part of teachers. But I tend to believe that teacher's strict classroom style more likely to teacher's injustices. The teacher's level of classroom strictness may be related to the teacher's unfairness. Some students also regard the strictness of the classroom regime as inequity. It mentions the amount of class and homework set and the rigour with which the teacher manages the class. However， it is not difficult to image that students as the educate don't have enough judgment on teachers' behaviour or some certain reasons which may make the pupil carry some resentment of their teacher.In terms of the age of my students， they are at the stage of adolescence. Some delicate varieties are taking place both in their body and mentality. A few teenagers really has some emotional difficulties such as bad tempered， blundering and impulsive etc， may cause teacher problems.Ⅱ.Focusing on appropriate classroom behaviourTeachers consistently cite difficulties in problems of classroom behaviour and poor motivation. Most teachers spend a considerable proportion of their on the troublesome problems which have already been mentioned in the foregoing text. It is believed that teachers should act rather than react in the classroom. To react on the spur of the moment may be natural， but it is not professional or effective， because there is a difference between a professional and a lay response to the behaviour of a young person. ( Wheldall and Merrett， 1989)Ⅲ.Positive teachingIt appears that the teacher will benefit from encouraging and increasing the kinds of behaviour they want to see their students engaged in. Furthermore， behaviours followed by positive teaching are likely to increase in frequency while behaviours followed by punishers tend to decrease in frequency. China is a country with “Confucian-Heritage Cultures” (CHCs) (Jarvis et al. 2003 p.86)， which impose a profound influence on teaching and learning style. Confucius， the greatest philosopher， thinker， and educator in Chinese ancient history， advocated the education method should “force-feeding knowledge， with strict regulations， including corporal punishment， to ensure blind compliance from students”. (Zhu weizheng 1992， p.9) We would say that punishment has been eliminated in a modern society， but the teacher is still conceived as an unchallengeable authority. (Jarvis et al， 2003 p.86). As a result， students are always introverted and silent in the class. They seldom present their own idea， and it needs to encourage raising a question to improve their positivity on learning. We shall try out best to reduce opportunities for misbehaviour.Ⅳ.Recognizing appropriate behaviour“A well-managed class is much less likely to cause behaviour problems However， you cannot stop all misbehaviour through effective class management.” (Davison， 2001: p.120)In my opinion， if we can establish a favorable atmosphere in the whole class， we may decrease the likelihood of individual misbehaviour occurring. According to traditional Chinese education view， the responsibility of the teacher is not only to impart students academic knowledge but also to educate them ethic and behaviour. In my school， the head teacher will organize the children to hold a theme class meeting to discuss “What is the appropriate behaviour?” at the beginning of every academic year. It is a popular way for pupils to identify the behaviours by asking questions， discussion， representing his own point of view and so on. While they make an agreement about the appropriate behaviour in conformity to their actual level (based on the school's behaviour police)， the teacher will sign a written appropriate behaviour contract with every student， which can help the students form a general consciousness in their mind. But it is also necessary to help some students with inappropriate behaviour to learn new ways of behaving. Ideally there should be some reward to their achievement or new behaviour established in this case. Otherwise， in the middle of the term， the teacher will ask the students to examine their self-expression， count the times he breaks the rule and as to be estimated by peers as well.Then the teacher will receive a report from the student himself， being told what are his advantages and disadvantages， what he should perform since then. Whereas with the errors in behaviours， the teacher can implicitly know how to behave. It can do great help for teachers to check the pupil understands of their behaviour. This approach has been widely used in my school， since it is an effective way for our students to improve both in their behavioural patterns and in their work. Ⅵ.Responding to appropriate behaviourAfter having observed the organization of appropriate behaviour and students’ good learning， what shall we do? The following question is， as a teacher， how to apply positive reinforcement. It is commonly believed that secondary school pupils still respect and value the opinions of their teachers. (Wheldall and Merrett， 1989). Most teachers might respond by praising pupils for their good behaviour， good work and sometimes effort to inspirit them. A teacher with well-management has set of a system of rewards as well as sanctions of his own.There are varieties of ways for rewards， such as praise， good marks and approval of teachers and peers etc. But it is very important for teachers to ask themselves whether there are some students who rarely get positive comment. In other words， pupils have a keen sense of fairness; it alerts teachers to apply sanctions with a rigid consistency without discrimination. (Visser， 2000) It is a good ideal for teacher to record some comments about students' work. I have daily work notebook with me which records students' behaviour details， I always say to myself， look hard for something good to say. We shall take it into account and work hard to sustain the building of positive relationships between teachers and pupils.Effective class management includes teachers' attitude， organizing working in the classroom， students' better behavior and positive teaching. However， how to manage the classroom is a timeless topic. As a successful teacher， he or she may operate in many different ways， but they have one thing in common， that is the ability to manage their classroom especially students' behaviour. Further more， good management not only provides the teacher greater satisfaction on job but also provides pupils with method of learning and acceptable social behaviour.

References：

［1］Capel， S. Leask. M. and Turner， T.Learning to Teach in the Secondary School:A Companion to School Experience London: Routledge Falmer，2001.

［2］Wheldall， K. and Merrett， F.Positive Teaching In the Secondary School. Paul Chapman Publishing Ltd，1989.

［3］Department of Education and Science and the Welsh Office (DES/WO) Discipline in Schools. Report of the Committee of Enquiry Chaired by Lord Elton (The Elton Report)， London: HMSO，1989.

［4］Jarvis， P.，Holford， J. Griffin，C.‘Culture and Learning’， The theory Practice of Learning.London: Kogan， Page，2003.

（作者單位：上海市商業學校）